When the pears are green

Chapter 138: Opening the Pavilion to Let in the Coolness

"Uncle Wu, this is it. I'll go knock on the door." Song Xing pointed to a courtyard not far away and told the village head Wu Wei who was driving a ox cart. Wu Wei let out a "whoa" and slowly stopped the ox cart, right in front of Jiang Qingzhou's gate.

Song Xing jumped off the ox cart, walked to the gate of the courtyard and knocked lightly on the door.

Jiang Qingye, who was sitting in the shade reading a book, hurried to open the door. He excitedly hugged Song Xing, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Wu Wei smiled as he looked at the two children hugging each other, and immediately jumped off the ox cart.

"Qingye, this is Uncle Wu, the father of Brother Wu San. He brought me here." Song Xing introduced Wu Wei to Jiang Qingye with a smile.

Jiang Qingye hurriedly opened all the doors to the courtyard and invited Wu Wei to come in for a drink of water.

Wu Wei smiled and led the ox cart into the yard. Jiang Qingye first asked him to sit in the shade and rest for a while, then went to the kitchen to pour two glasses of cold boiled water, one for Wu Wei and the other for Song Xing.

Jiang Qingye picked up some grass from the pile of grass next to the pigpen and put it next to the old cow. The old cow lowered its head and began to eat the grass, wagging its tail happily.

Jiang Qingye smiled and patted Lao Niu, then explained to Wu Wei and Song Xing that Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou went to Sangtian after breakfast and would definitely be back before noon.

Song Xing, who was standing by, took the empty cup of water from Wu Wei's hand. He quickly walked to the kitchen, rinsed the cups used by himself and Wu Wei, and placed them on the wooden table.

Wu Wei smiled and pointed to the two cloth bags on the ox cart. He said that Song Changhe had asked him to bring them over, and asked Jiang Qingye where he had put the two bags of grain.

Jiang Qingye thought that Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou had accepted the two bags of grain sent by Song Changhe this spring, so they should also accept these two bags. So he did not refuse. He, Wu Wei and Song Xing moved the two bags of grain into the west room.

Wu Wei stayed at Jiang's house for a while. When he saw that Lao Niu had almost finished eating, he said goodbye to Song Xing and Jiang Qingye.

Jiang Qingye hurriedly asked Wu Wei to stay at home to eat and feed before going back. Wu Wei smiled and declined, saying, "Xiaoxing, Qingye, I'll go back. I have things to do in the afternoon."

Jiang Qingye was afraid that Wu Wei would not know the way, so he and Song Xing sent Wu Wei to the entrance of the village and told Wu Wei: "Uncle Wu, just walk west along this road and you will reach the stone tablet in the town."

Wu Wei looked at Jiang Qingye with admiration. It was the first time he had met such a thoughtful child. After thanking Song Xing and Jiang Qingye, he drove the ox cart in the direction Jiang Qingye pointed to, heading towards Heihe Town.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou came back around noon. Song Li pushed the door open and looked at Song Xing in surprise, who was playing slingshot with Jiang Qingye in the yard. She thought Song Xing would not come until tomorrow.

Song Xing told Song Li that Wu Wei was going to send Wu Mingde to the county town today, so Wu Wei asked Song Changhe last night if he wanted to bring Song Xing with him. Song Changhe asked Wu Wei to bring Song Xing and two bags of food with him. Originally, they were going to send Song Xing to the Jiang family first, but they met Li Yun'an and Hu Zhimin who were waiting there at the stone tablet in Heihe Town. Wu Mingde and Li Yun'an took Hu Zhimin's carriage to the county town.

Song Li asked about Song Xing's fans again. Song Xing said that he sold all the fans to Li Yun'an at the price of three cents for two fans. Although it was cheaper, it saved him the trouble of running back and forth.

Song Li fished out a grass carp that she had caught yesterday from the water tank. She planned to fillet the fish and make fish soup.

During the meal, Jiang Qingzhou told Song Xing and Jiang Qingye: "Qingye, Xiaoxing, you two should go to the fields with us this afternoon. There are insects on the mulberry leaves. Let's try to catch them all in the next two days. We can't let the insects eat the silkworm leaves."

Song Xing and Jiang Qingye nodded quickly after listening.

Squatting beside the mulberry seedlings and slowly catching insects is naturally much slower than other farm work. The four of them spent an entire afternoon catching only the insects on one acre of mulberry seedlings.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the setting sun. He made a simple mark in the mulberry field and said to Song Li, "Xiao Li, let's go back. Tomorrow you go to the town to sell bean sprouts. Xiao Xing, Qing Ye and I will go catch insects together."

Song Li nodded and invited Song Xing and Jiang Qingye to go home together.

After returning home, Jiang Qingzhou saw that the chickens in the chicken coop had not yet been put on the shelves, so he poured the insects lying on the mulberry leaves in the basket into the chicken coop, causing the chicks to cluck.

At dusk on the second day, Song Li and her friends finally caught all the insects in the mulberry field. Jiang Qingzhou stretched his arms happily, and then asked Jiang Ping next door: "Uncle Ping, we have caught all the insects, how about yours?"

"Ours is almost done too. We'll be done tomorrow." Jiang Ping answered Jiang Qingzhou without even raising his head. Jiang Qian started school two days ago, and the task of catching insects fell on him. He has been busy from dawn to sunset these past two days, and has finally finished catching all the insects in his own mulberry field.

That night, Jiang Qingzhou told the already confused Song Li what he had asked Jiang Qian: "My second brother said that he would send a piece of pork to the teacher on the first day of school."

Song Li forced herself to open her eyes and whispered, "Just do as second brother says." Then she fell into a deep sleep.

Jiang Qingzhou touched Song Li's cheek with his finger. Seeing a little sweat on Song Li's forehead, he walked to the window, opened it, and then lit the mosquito coil that Song Li made with yellow mud and mugwort.

Gusts of night breeze blew into the room, making it much cooler.

After two or three cocks crowed, the clouds in the east had already appeared. Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li took Jiang Qingye and Song Xing to the town early. They first bought two pork loins from the butcher who was selling breakfast food, and then went to Rongxing Bookstore together.

Jiang Qingzhou handed the pork and the bean sprouts in the basket to Master Li, and Song Li gave Li Yi a small shoulder bag made by Song Yue. Li Yi couldn't let go of the shoulder bag made of peach pink, emerald green and light blue, and kept showing it off to Master Li.

After one or two rains, the corn in the fields quickly grew to nearly a meter tall.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou were afraid that it would be unsafe for Song Xing and Jiang Qingye to go to and from school, so they started picking them up and dropping them off every day.

That day, when the class was over, Master Li stroked his goatee and told Jiang Qingzhou, who came to pick up Song Xing and Jiang Qingye, "Qingzhou, bring bedding for them when you come tomorrow. There is an empty room in the study, so let them stay there first. When the corn is harvested, you can go back home and let them keep Nian Nian company."

Jiang Qingzhou asked Jiang Qingye and Song Xing who were standing nearby, and they both nodded in agreement under Li Yi's excited and pleading gaze.

After returning home, Jiang Qingzhou told Song Li about this matter. Song Li thought for a while and said to Jiang Qingzhou: "It is still two or three months before the corn harvest. Not only do they live in the library, but they also have three meals a day. There is also a bag of ground flour at home. Let's take it over tomorrow, and bring some money. Let's discuss with Master Li how many copper coins a day is appropriate."

Jiang Qingzhou felt that what Song Li said made sense, so he nodded in agreement.

The next morning, Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou put Song Xing and Jiang Qingye's bedding and a bag of flour on a cart and pushed it to Rongxing Bookstore.

Li Yi happily helped the two of them carry the bedding, and Jiang Qingzhou took the flour off the cart and gave it to Master Li.

Master Li quickly waved his hand to refuse. Song Li smiled and asked Master Li to accept it. She said to Master Li, "We know that you let Qingye and Xiaoxing live in the study out of kindness. They also need to eat in the study, so you can't suffer any loss. We will send a bag of flour every month. For vegetables and meat, you have to tell us the price so that we can give it to you."

"As for vegetables, there are a lot planted in the backyard of the study, enough for the four of us to eat. We also raise some chickens in the backyard, so we are not short of meat. Don't be polite to me. I still need them to help me water the vegetables and raise the chickens. Nian Nian is a playful child. She will never do these things well." Master Li smiled and rejected Song Li's idea of ​​giving money.

When Song Li heard what Master Li said, she no longer insisted. She and Jiang Qingzhou would buy some pork and send it to the study every ten days or so.

The weather was slowly entering the hottest days of summer. Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li would sleep in the yard on any clear night.

The peaches in the yard were ripe. Jiang Qingzhou sold some, gave some to Master Li, gave some to the Jiang and Song families, and kept the rest for himself.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou lay on the bed together looking at the brilliant Milky Way. Song Li pointed to a bright star on the east side of the Milky Way and told Jiang Qingzhou that it was Altair.

"Qingzhou, look west along Altair, passing the Milky Way, and the brightest star is Vega. Have you heard the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl?" Song Li asked, pointing at Vega.

Jiang Qingzhou nodded and told Song Li: "My father told me this when I was little. I even wanted to marry a fairy in the future."

Song Li laughed when she heard it. Jiang Qingzhou turned his head to look at Song Li's smiling face and said softly, "Xiao Li is my fairy."

"I'm not, stop talking nonsense." Song Li unconsciously deepened the smile on her face. She held Jiang Qingzhou's finger and pointed northwest along the Vega to find another bright star.

"This is called Deneb, and together with Vega and Altair, it forms the Summer Triangle." After Song Li finished speaking, she took Jiang Qingzhou's finger and drew along Deneb, Vega, and Altair several times.

Jiang Qingzhou put Song Li's hand to his mouth and said softly that it was indeed a triangle.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and there were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the road. Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou no longer went to Heihe Town to set up stalls. They hadn't seen Chen Yuan for a long time.

One afternoon, Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li were sitting in the yard enjoying the cool air. Jiang Qingzhou heard a hurried knock on the door and hurried to open it. The person who came was Chen Yuan.